A cyclist was left with a bleed on his brain and memory loss after being knocked off his bike by a hit and run driver.

Factory worker Ben Setterington was cycling along the B1137 Main Road to Freebournes Road, in Witham, when he was left for dead by the car driver in Hatfield Peverel.

Despite wearing a helmet Mr Setterington, 27, was left with a number of serious injuries, including bleeding from the brain, memory loss, a broken hand, broken finger and cuts and bruises.

Mr Setterington’s partner, Emma Collins, received a panicked phone call from him at 6.20am on Tuesday.

In a confused state he told her someone had knocked him off his bike, stopped to give him a wad of tissues and driven off.

Miss Collins, 24, said: “I was on my way to get him when he rang back two minutes later saying he didn’t know what happened, where he was or how he got there.

“He only held his memory for ten seconds, so I had to tell him he had been hit by a car.

“Ben thought he just had a fat lip, but obviously I knew it was more because of his memory.

“I went to get him and he kept trying to get up and walk around to find out where he was.”

Emergency staff at Broomfield Hospital discovered a bleed on the front of Mr Setterington’s brain after Miss Collins, a nurse, rushed him in.

Brain surgery was considered as the first option, but Mr Setterington managed to pull through on his own.

Miss Collins said: “His face is not a pretty picture right now, his chin was hanging off and he needed a lot of stitches.

“I don’t think the driver who hit him had any idea what injuries he had or he wouldn’t have driven off.

“He has no memory of what happened, he can’t remember getting to A&E or anything up to nine hours after.”

Mr Setterington is a keen cyclist and bikes an hour each way to work from his home in Broomfield each day.

He will need weeks of therapy on his broken hand and, because he works in a factory, at least seven weeks off work.

His family has appealed for anyone with information to come forward and contact Essex Police on 101.